• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Products / Baby Gear
    • Best Mom & Baby Products
    • Ultimate Baby Registry Guide
  • Pregnancy
    • Prenatal
    • Breastfeeding
  • Baby
    • Month 1-3
    • Month 4-6
    • Month 7-9
    • Month 10-12
    • Second Year
    • Toddler
  • #MomLife
  • About Rookie Moms
  • Nav Widget Area

Rookie Moms

Pregnancy > Parenthood

You are here: Home / Making me grumpy / Living with my not-so pregnant belly

Living with my not-so pregnant belly

192 shares
  • Facebook192
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Our guest today is Liz Jobst, mom to Henry in Oakland, CA.

Please don't ask if I'm pregnant.
I recently attended an event where I ran into some acquaintances that I had not seen in a while. Multiple people came up to me to discuss my second pregnancy. One woman even put her hand on my belly and asked when I was due. The problem with their gestures is that I am 100% positive I am not pregnant. Completely caught off guard by these inquires, the only response I could muster was, “I’m not pregnant; I just haven’t lost the first one yet.” I then moved to change the subject — to anything other than the giant whale that had appeared between us.

On a bad day, I look in the mirror and consider myself, a size 12/14, terribly fat. The truth is that I weigh about the same as before I was pregnant with my son. However, all of my weight is now concentrated in my middle. Short skirts, bring them on; my legs look fine. I just have a belly that is impossible to hide. Would I like to lose 20 pounds? Absolutely. Especially since I live in the super fit Bay Area where skinny everything are Mom norms.

I have actually heard other Moms wonder why I am too lazy (or insert other derogatory adjective here) to lose the weight. I guess since my son is no longer an infant their empathy for “baby weight” has been replaced with judgment.

On a good day, I remember that this weight problem isn’t entirely within my control. The reason I was heavier before my pregnancy is that for years I have taken a medication that produces a side effect of weight gain. The hours I have spent obsessing over this and discussing options with my doctors both then and now are innumerable. The bottom line is that my weight seems to have plateaued; as long as it doesn’t keep going up, there is no reason to change my medication. But as long as I continue to take this medication it makes it more difficult for me to shed the extra pounds. This is not an excuse; it’s an explanation, though I shouldn’t really need one.

The truth is that my body works harder for me now that it has in my entire life. I have never been on a sports team or joined a gym; until I started my current course of medication in my late twenties I was naturally thin and I never needed (or wanted) to exercise. My dad used to joke that I had “an aversion to sweat.” Now, as a stay-at-home mom, I regularly lift and carry my 30 pound 17 month old much to the dismay of my chiropractor (did I mention my family also has a history of back problems?). My son and I take long walks with our dog daily, during which I push him in the stroller around our hilly neighborhood. We dance, run, and play together; he never stops moving and it is my job to keep up.

In case you were wondering, my husband and my son are not overweight. They are both tall guys. I cook most of the family meals and I am very conscious of providing healthy, mostly organic, food for us to eat. As a family, we do not deny ourselves sugar but we are careful to eat high calorie foods in moderation. Honestly, we’re eating better now that our son is at the table than we did as a couple, because we want to model a healthy lifestyle for him.

Here is the thing, while I have officially retired the dress which made me look pregnant enough for you to comment, I would appreciate it if you asked about our family plans before assuming we had already started on number two. If you know that I’m not pregnant, then it would be great if you could celebrate my body with me instead of ridiculing it.

This body made an amazing little boy. This body is working hard to stay healthy to watch that little boy grow up. And if staying healthy for me means carrying some extra weight while I dance, run, and play with my son, I’ll take that over the option to not participate any day of the week.

Thank you, Liz! Read about Liz’s experiences with baby sign language and a baby play class on our Bay Area parent guide, 510families.com.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Whitney
Whitney
RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.
Whitney
Latest posts by Whitney (see all)
  • 5 Mistakes I Made When Booking My Disney VIP Tour (So You Don’t Have To) - June 9, 2024
  • 15 Super Fun 100 Day Project Ideas for Kindergarten - January 11, 2024
  • Best Baby Tracking App of 2023 [The Feeding & Diaper Trackers You Need] - August 2, 2023

January 5, 2015 11:44 am Whitney Filed Under: Making me grumpy, Momoirs of a Rookie Mom

Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter

Primary Sidebar

Search our site

The Best 20 Stay at Home Mom Jobs in 2024!

The Best 20 Stay at Home Mom Jobs in 2024!

19 Best Nursery Gliders of 2024! [Tested by Parents for Parents]

19 Best Nursery Gliders of 2024! [Tested by Parents for Parents]

The 50 Best Toys for 2 Year Old Boys in 2023! [+ Toys of the Year]

The 50 Best Toys for 2 Year Old Boys in 2023! [+ Toys of the Year]

6 Fool-Proof Strategies for When Your Toddler Won’t Stay in Bed

6 Fool-Proof Strategies for When Your Toddler Won’t Stay in Bed

The Best Gender Reveal Gifts (30+ Unique Ideas!)

The Best Gender Reveal Gifts (30+ Unique Ideas!)

10 Best Strollers In 2023 – For Every Mom’s Needs!

10 Best Strollers In 2023 – For Every Mom’s Needs!

Join our Rookie Moms Facebook Page

Rookie Moms

Disclosure

Review Policy
Privacy Policy

This site is an Amazon affiliate.

Popular Articles

150 Unique Middle Names for Girls

Footer

Browse By Age

  • Pregnancy
  • Month 1-3
  • Month 4-6
  • Month 7-9
  • Month 10-12
  • Toddler
  • Preschooler

Problem Solving

  • Sleepy
  • Eating
  • Breastfeeding
  • Home
  • Baby Registry
  • Pregnancy
  • Baby
  • Toddler
  • Preschooler
  • Baby Gear
  • #MomLife
  • Holidays
    • Holiday Gift Guide
    • Holiday Entertaining

© Copyright 2016 · Pretty Lifestyle WordPress Theme by: PDCD